


That's impossible.

by arthur14357



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Experimental Style, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arthur14357/pseuds/arthur14357
Summary: “That's impossible. No matter how many times he reincarnates, he's a liar down to his soul.” -Yumeno Himiko, before the final class trail
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 98





	1. Chapter 1

Kokichi Ouma is a normal enough young man with a normal enough life, except he has a lot of really weird dreams. Like, intensely vivid. When he wakes up, they follow him for the rest of the day. It happens not every night, but often enough for him to keep a journal detailing the things he sees and feels and experiences in his bizarre dreams.

For most of his life, Kokichi had normal enough dreams, too. He dreamed about going to school naked. He dreamed about taking his exams quite a bit. He dreamed about people he knew, his classmates, his family. Sometimes, he dreamed about dying. A lot. Maybe that wasn't so normal, but he'd always had dreams like that. 

Kokichi still dreams a lot about dying, but sometime after turning 17 he started dreaming about people he had never met. Rather than being faceless, nameless nobodies or people he could distinctly recognize as his own relations, they all had blurry faces and names that he forgot shortly upon waking. Every time he dreamed of them, he wrote it down. There were some who's names and faces were almost completely obscured to him, even in those early moments before he could forget, but he could tell they were different, too. They weren't quite as real as the others, though, if he was being honest, but they struck his interest just the same. Perhaps he was a little too involved in these dreams, a little too desperate for something more.

Something had always felt missing, and when he dreamed that part of him was filled. Kokichi didn't really have friends. He knew a lot of people, but none of them were his friends. That suited him just fine; he had no interest in such boring, fake people. Until one of them did something that demanded his attention, they weren't going to get it, as far as he's concerned.

The people in his dreams weren't boring at all. Well, some of them were. But even they were almost cartoonish in their behavior. 

The first time he dreamed like that, Kokichi dreamed about a rather gullible blonde girl, being tagged along by some guy with a hat who spoke almost not at all. They introduced themselves to him and he lied to their faces about something ridiculous, he thinks, which for a moment caught the blonde girl by surprise. “Just kidding!” or something, he said. Kokichi did give them his real name, for some reason. When he woke up, he couldn't really remember their names but he thought about their blurry faces all day in school. They felt important, even if they weren't even real. The blonde girl had done most of the talking, but hat boy really stood out to him. Later, he would enter his name into his notes as “Saihara-chan,” because that's what he always called him in his dreams.

It started to get really weird when he woke up crying one night, having watched the blonde girl, Akamatsu-chan, hang as some form of sick punishment for killing an “Amami-nii-chan.” He didn't know these people. They weren't real, right?

At least it wasn't boring. He entered it dutifully into his notes even then.

Kokichi had loads more dreams. They seemed to be all out of order since the first one, but most of them were about Saihara-chan. He tended to take the most detailed notes on him, too. One night, he's adding to his growing index of information on the dream people, and he laughs to himself because he has a funny thought. What if I'm falling in love with him?

When he dreams about playing a knife game with the boy and cutting himself, he watches Saihara-chan carefully bandage the wound and listens to him complain about how he's gone too far this time, or something, and when he wakes up it isn't so funny anymore.

One morning, on a weekday, Kokichi is in class. Excitement is buzzing in the air, and he tries to tune it out. It's probably some stupid rumor. Whatever, stand, bow. 

“I'm sure most of you have already heard. We have a new student joining us today,” says his teacher. So late in the school year? That's weird, he thinks. Probably not as interesting as it sounds, but his heart beats a little faster as if he already knows what's coming. Like a dog taking a nap before a storm, or something.

“Why don't you introduce yourself,” his teacher offers, and someone comes to stand by the teacher and Kokichi recognizes that incredibly plain look, that stupid hat before he even says his name.

“I'm Saihara Shuuichi. It's nice to meet you all.”

For the first time in his life, Kokichi is excited. Well, not the first- he's seen his fair share of mischief and on a few occasions, danger- but it's never been like this. It's magnetizing. Impossible. How completely inexplicable. Quite literally the man of his dreams has just walked into his life. A transfer student. He may as well have fallen from the sky- oh, now he's walking back here. Kokichi remembers that conveniently, there is an empty desk right next to his where he sits in the back of the class.

Saihara fills the space next to him. He's pointedly not looking at him, even though they now sit right next to each other. That's kind of annoying, but it's kind of cute, too. Saihara is taking out his books and things because class is commencing. Kokichi's things are already out, but he probably isn't going to be learning anything today. Saihara is turning red and Kokichi remembers that he's just staring him down like a dog does a juicy piece of meat. 

“Hey,” he whispers at him. “Saihara-chan.”

Saihara jumps, then, for a moment, looks right at him. Then his eyes are kind of all over the place.

“Are you ignoring me already?”

Kokichi watches embarrassment flare across Saihara's face. He just stutters, “Oh, no, I'm sorry, um...”

“Ouma,” he supplies.

“Ouma,” he finishes, tugging at his hat, still not looking him properly in the eyes. Stupid hat. He can't tell what color Saihara's eyes are when he hides behind it. He wants to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeey so this is not the first fic ive posted online but the others i deleted cuz they were pretty aimless and bad. this one is also pretty aimless, but ive written out more in advance so... lets see if this one sticks. would love feedback, good, bad, mistakes, whatever. tell me what you specifically think and any small detail even is fine. it could be that you find my use of words annoying. tell me where. i want to finish something for once lol. if you liked this so far, there are gonna be more chapters, but bear with me here cuz i dont fuckin know how to write, im going to be going over chapters more likely than not to flesh them out, and its probably gonna be slow going. this has not been read by anyone yet, so i dont really know how it like... reads. ha thanks bye


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi introduces himself, properly.

Saihara had nervously redirected his attention back to the lesson, awkwardly but not deliberately unfriendly. But Kokichi can't pay any attention at all, because he feels like he's crossed into a different dimension or something. Like two different worlds collided and things that shouldn't be, are. He doesn't take any notes, but he pretends to.

He watches Saihara during lunch, crowded by classmates who want to know all about him. Which by crowded, there's just a boy and a few girls who probably think he's cute. For now, he watches him squirm under their questions and stares, watches him turning red in the face, not meeting any of their eyes for more than a second or two. He politely eats with them, like they're friends already when they're not. Kokichi hates it, and he knows what this is, it's jealousy. He reminds himself that to Saihara, he's no different from their classmates. Just another new face. He can fix that, though.

Kokichi goes home that day and when he lays in bed and thinks about Saihara, he feels a little creepy; but then again, whole thing is already pretty creepy, so he allows it. In his head he thinks about all the things he could say to Saihara to get his attention. He considers writing some of these ideas down, but that seems a little deranged. Not that anybody would know. Instead, he only writes “real” under the notes for “Saihara-chan.”

When Kokichi falls asleep that night, he dreams about playing a knife game for the hundredth time.

At school the next morning, he makes sure to deliberately greet Saihara as he takes his seat beside him. As uncomfortable as he looks, Saihara manages to return it. “Hello, Ouma-kun,” he says, like that's all. And it is, because class is about to start.

During lunch, Kokichi sees Saihara is still followed by their classmates, trying to make friends with the new kid. Because that's cool, or something, since Saihara hasn't done anything totally weird yet. This time, Kokichi joins them. He approaches the group of smiling, friendly faces, and kindly greets them himself.

“Heeey, can't you see that you're obviously bothering him? Like, he totally hates this, you know.”

They look confused, really caught off-guard. So does Saihara, who begins to stutter something about how it's fine. Louder, “Go away! I'm sitting here. He's my cousin.”

When Saihara doesn't correct him, they slowly and reluctantly scatter. Kokichi sits down next to him. “Geez, they're the worst, aren't they, Saihara-chan?” he says, trying to cut small talk out. Saihara seems like he only does small talk, and yet definitely probably hates it. Not that Kokichi's approach is any better, he knows. He doesn't talk to people much, either. Most of the school can't stand him, actually.

For the first time, he and Saihara make proper eye contact. Actually, he looks kind of embarrassed (and relieved.) For a moment, he wonders if he's mad. His eyes look murky. Are they brown? Probably, he supposes. 

Saihara quickly looks away and tugs at his infernal hat again. Stupid hat. “Actually, they were pretty nice, I think.”

“Well, I'm nice, too. You don't mind, do you?” he asks, knowing full well the Saihara-chan he knows would never say “yes” even if he wanted to.

“No.” Yeah.

Kokichi doesn't want to ask him the same questions his classmates probably were, even if he's dying to know. Why'd you transfer? Have any hobbies?

Hmm.

“We've met before, you know,” he says instead. He has to keep from laughing when Saihara looks at him skeptically.

“I think you're mistaken,” he says.

“Nope! That was definitely you. You were at that convention, in full anime cosplay, giving everyone 'free hugs.' Don't worry, I won't tell!”

“Th-That definitely wasn't me.”

“You're right, I just made that up. I've never seen you before in my life!” he lies again, but this time it comes packaged with a truth.

“Why would you... nevermind,” he sighs. “Ouma-kun?” Saihara says his name like he's got to force it out.

“Hmm?”

“I, uh, noticed you don't really talk to anybody else, so... why are you talking to me?”

“What! I have tons of friends! Loads and loads! 10,000 of them, to be exact,” Kokichi says, acts like he's horribly offended. Really, he's hoping to stay away from that topic. If he tells the truth, he'll sound insane, so he definitely can't do that.

“Oh,” is all he says, and Kokichi knows he doesn't buy it, but he doesn't say anything else.

“What, don't you believe me?” he finds himself asking, as if it were a real question. Kokichi can't remember the last time somebody listened to him talk for this long, even. “Why was Saihara-chan watching lil' ol' me, anyway?”

Saihara gets flustered and blushes. “N-no, I wasn't-”

“You know, you can't lie to me, Saihara-chan. But that's okay, I was totally not watching you, too.”

That was really weird, even for Kokichi. He mentally kicks himself, “Just kidding! That was a lie. I was watching you all day, because I'm planning to kill you.”

Saihara relaxes again, but honestly, now he's the one feeling embarrassed. He decides he should probably reign it in a little bit from here on out. The rest of their meal is pretty quiet, but not unpleasant. Kokichi lies about something, does it again. He's hardly aware of it sometimes, when he gets like this. Kokichi thinks he sees Saihara smile.

Kokichi makes a habit of eating with Saihara, who blushes a little whenever he calls him “-chan.” He greets him every morning, too, but they don't talk much then. Saihara is very uneasy in the mornings, so Kokichi allows him this time to get it together. It's too easy in the mornings, when he's still tired and out of it. It feels a little bit too mean, and that usually isn't an issue. Saihara is special, and he should consider himself lucky to have such a great friend as Kokichi, probably. Everyone else in class sucks.

Still, he's always waiting for the opportunity to take his hat away. He supposes he could just snatch it right off of his head. That could be pretty funny. Saihara could just as easily take it back, if he wasn't kind of a pussy. Well, sometimes the best solution is the easiest. It's not a bad idea. He's always hinting at it, very subtly, like , “Why does Saihara-chan always wear that stupid hat?”

After about a week, he goes for it. Kokichi rips it off his head, and Saihara splutters and turns red. He makes a grab for it, surprisingly, but Kokichi won't let him get his hands on it. 

“Nope! Sorry, Saihara-chan, but it's mine now. Don't worry, I'll keep it safe.”

“Ouma-kun, please, I need that,” he begs, and it's a little pathetic but kind of cute. And annoying. Kokichi rolls his eyes.

“What, so you don't have to look at anyone? That's pretty rude, you know. You need to learn to be more like me, see, because everyone loooves me.”

“That's- umm...”

“A lie, yep! But seriously, it's for your own good, Saihara-chan!” he assures him. Saihara looks frustrated, but he makes no further attempt to get it back. “O-okay, I guess. You're right.”

Kokichi stuffs it into his bag. Saihara needs to toughen up a little. Plus, it's an ugly hat. 

They start walking home together, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still pretty short chapters, not very good at making them long. again, i might go back and edit these first few chapters at some point but for now im just gonna try and get it out there bc otherwise they just sit really lol.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saihara doesn't wear a hat. Kokichi wonders about Saihara that was/n't, and is.

It's jarring to say the least, the next day at school, when Kokichi sees Saihara come in without his hat, fussing with his bangs and keeping his head down, as if he could hide from people's eyes so easily. Well, maybe it is that easy- when nobody's looking at him, he feels invisible. Personally, he hates it. He'd never, ever admit it, but it was true. Kokichi thinks Saihara does not feel invisible right now, though; he looks as if even one person said anything about it, he'd turn and run with his tail between his legs. 

Nobody really seems to care. Why would they? Kokichi realizes this is a nerve-wracking moment for Saihara, but it's a little hard to relate, when he knows Saihara is going to be fine, he just does.

And he is, and he doesn't run if he notices anyone look over, just for a second. Saihara goes to take his seat next to him, and he moves like a robot, except for the way he relaxes in his seat and his fingers come to rest daintily on his desk, fiddling with each other nervously in short, twitchy flickers. It's a pitiful display, but there's hope for him, yet. Maybe the Saihara he knew, is there, too, in the Saihara he knows. He catches his eye with a wave, and Saihara raises his hand shyly. Yo.

Kokichi grins at him. Hey. Good job.

Saihara's lips twitch, just a little, upwards. The tiniest of smiles. His shoulders sag, not so wound up now. 

School goes on like normal that day, and the next, but Saihara has started packing pretty big lunches. He feels a little bad, only a little, because he knows its for his own sake. He won't acknowledge it, just takes his box when it's time. It's embarrassing, but he won't show it. At some point, Saihara pinpointed Kokichi's eating habits- that is, he rarely, if ever, eats at school. Most of the time, he would steal from Saihara's box, and he would sometimes catch him. So, that's his own sloppy fault. Saihara's a good guy, though, so he didn't stop him. In fact, it took only a few days since meeting him (for the second time) for Saihara to start nudging his lunches towards Kokichi, shyly. 

“Do you want to share?”

It snowballed from there. Oh, well. Today he's packed rice, lots of rice, again. There's some vegetables and cheap, unseasoned chicken bits on the side. Saihara isn't much of a cook, but Kokichi isn't in any position to be picky. It's edible enough.

“Let's eat!”

Saihara nods, and Kokichi starts in on his rice.

“O- Ouma-kun,” Saihara stutters suddenly, like he's forcing it out, and looks embarrassed. 

“Mm?”

“What kind of food do you like?” he looks down at his rice, poking it around. Kokichi kinda gets the feeling there's more he wants to say, probably mostly rambling. Saihara doesn't elaborate.

“Sweet foods,” he says after a moment, “and spicy stuff is pretty good, too.”

“Ah. Okay. So foods with a lot of flavor, is that it?”

“Huh. Yeah, I guess. Why? Is Saihara-chan going to make something extra special for me?”

“Maybe. I know I'm not the best at cooking, but I can- uh,” Saihara trails off clumsily. 

“Don't fry your brain, Saihara-chan.” 

“Ah, jeez.”

That night, Kokichi dreams, like people do every night, and he dreams about Saihara.

“Can I make you some coffee?”

“I hate coffee, you know that! How mean,” he tries, and musters up some fake tears. Saihara looks panicked. He probably doesn't know how to deal with crying. Who does?

“Do you not like me?”

“Wh-huh?”

Kokichi manages to burst into tears. He can really sell it, too. It's one of the few things he could say he's really good at.

“Saihara-chan must hate me... waaaah!”

“N-No, Ouma-kun, I don't!” he frets.

Sniff, sniff. “R-really?”

Saihara nods almost frantically. He looks lost, and it's clear he doesn't really get what's happening yet. Somehow, Kokichi knows he'll catch on any second, but he drops it anyway-

“Good!” Kokichi beams at him. Saihara relaxes again. Too easy.

“Maaan,” he drawls, like he's bored, now. “All that crying made me thirsty... coffee, please!”

Saihara's mouth drops open and he looks thoroughly confused, just for a moment. He can see it in his eyes when he thinks, oh, it's a joke.

Saihara makes a pot of coffee for them. Kokichi takes it loaded with milk, because he really doesn't like coffee. Saihara sighs as Kokichi opts to spoon straight sugar from the bag rather than use the box of sugar cubes, just to make a mess. 

All he can remember is the look on Saihara's face. Even thinking of it now, laying in his closet, wrapped up tight, the dull sound of morning just beyond, it makes him feel... looked at? He doesn't know. But he feels alone, suddenly. He's definitely half-asleep. He reaches for his bag, and the rustling of his makeshift bed-thing rustles softly as he pulls it to himself and unzips it, pulling from it Saihara's hat. This thing is worthless, he thinks. Kokichi has always been a bit of a hoarder, though, and he sniffs it. It doesn't smell nearly as good as he would imagine, he forgets this Saihara is less... picturesque, dreamy. He's real, and that's better. It doesn't smell bad. It just smells like sweat and hair.

With some shuffling, Kokichi puts the hat away and tries to go back to sleep but he can't. He never can, but he likes to try, anyway. It's frustrating because he can still feel sleep tugging him under but it just... doesn't come. It's terrible, waking up early, but that's usually how it goes. Every now and then it all adds up and he oversleeps and he ends up late for school, but it feels amazing. To sleep like that. He'd say it's pretty worth it; honestly, he'd been planning on dropping out until Saihara stepped out of his dreams and into reality.

So Kokichi goes to school today, too. He's pretty sure Saihara packed him a little something extra today. He's never met anyone quite so willing to just give things away, like his hat and food and probably whatever he wanted, if he asked in the right way. It's only been a little over a week, but he's sure of it. Has it been a week? It feels like it's been much longer.

Saihara packed some cake. Clearly store-bought, but cake. It looks holy.

“Wow, did you make this, Saihara-chan? For me?” Kokichi lights up visibly, and it's not totally fake, because he does really, really want cake.

Saihara scratches the hairs on the back of his neck. “Well, no.”

“Oh. I don't want it, then,” he says plainly. He tears up. 

“Do you not like me at all, Saihara-chan?”

“Wh-huh?” Oh, that's the face. It's kind of nostalgic.

“Just kidding!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay idk how to get that other note to not appear on every chapter so sorry stuck with it for now... anyway. probably in the next few days ill go back and update the chapters. nothing will be seriously changed just added some details no need to read them again its just to satisfy my own tastes i guess lol. no one is reading these before i post them so, i just kinda post shit and see how i feel about it later sorry bout dat!
> 
> ediit: nvm literally figured it out immediately after posting


	4. Chapter 4

It's become somewhat common for Kokichi to find himself at Saihara's after school. Usually, he invites himself under the guise of studying, but honestly, he doesn't study at all, ever. Saihara does, but obviously not with him. It is after another pathetic study session that they find themselves watching television. They've been channel-surfing a lot, due to Saihara's lack of a physical DVD collection. Kokichi said he'd bring something over, but he lied because he doesn't have any DVDs either. He was hoping Saihara would get the hint and rent some, or something like that. Nothing good is on, today, and he tells Saihara to "put on a movie or something." Saihara had excused himself, returning shortly with a cardboard box, probably full of movies and the like. 

“Um, so what did you want to watch then, Ouma-kun?”

“You pick. If it's boring, though, I'll kill you.” 

“Please don't,” he says. Saihara sucks at banter. He clears his throat after he sets everything up and sits on the opposite end from Kokichi on the sofa.

“Well, I don't know if its to your tastes, but I figured you'd rather not watch anything too serious,” he explains as bright colors flood the screen. “I, uh, don't usually watch anime, but I have this friend who's really into it, I guess, so,” Saihara trails off with a meek shrug. “I hope this is okay.”

A friend, huh? He's never seen anyone anyone hanging around Saihara that he could call a friend. Saihara looks uncomfortable around everybody. Even right now he looks out of place, in his own home. Kokichi really wants to ask about it, but he doesn't. Somehow he feels like he doesn't want to know, even though its probably just somebody from his old school. Still, he doesn't like to think he's not the only one.

As for the anime, clearly they both know they're too old for this, and Kokichi is not even going to pretend to like it. It's pretty boring, and all he can think about anyway is Saihara's unidentified friend. Were there others? He knows more than he should and less than he wants to about him. Saihara really sucks at reading people, sometimes.

They don't get through the first episode before Kokichi interrupts with a loud groan. “My turn!”

“Huh? I thought you didn't-”

“Changed my mind. I got bored, so I'll have to kill you now,” he says ominously, “unless.”

“Unless... we watch something else?”

“Bingo! What'd'ya got, Saihara-chan?” he asks as he's already rifling through his collection. There's a surprising amount of anime. Actually, he doesn't seem to have much else on DVD. 

“Hey, what's the big deal! It's all anime!”

“My, ah, friend. She loaned me these. It's not really my thing... just nostalgic. My actual library is digital,” he explains, setting up his laptop on the coffee table. “I think there's a way to put it on the TV, though.”

“Whatever, we can just watch on your laptop, right?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“No buts!” he decides for him, dropping down besides Saihara on the couch. He scoots in a little, and wow, he's never gotten this close, has he? When he feels Saihara's eyes on him, he knows he's looking, mouth all agape and whatnot, and he thinks he can just barely smell his breath, they're so close. It might be in his head, though.

“Uh, um, sure. Okay,” he's stuttering again, and Kokichi says nothing when Saihara picks what they watch next.

Saihara gets up abruptly to turn off the lights, but sits down right where he was before. Saihara side-eyes him, briefly, as if to ask “is this okay?” and he's beet red probably (but its dark,) hands clutching his knees his knees. He stares intently at the screen.

Kokichi lets himself focus on the movie, because it actually looks interesting, and sinks into the couch. He's trying to relax, but Kokichi is a little more high-strung than he lets on, so he's kind of nervous, too. They aren't doing anything. Just watching a movie. It's just not anime this time. And the lights are off, for the mood. 

In his peripheral vision, he sees Saihara begin to slouch, before flopping back altogether. His arms are crossed uncomfortably, but this is probably subconscious. Kokichi doesn't call him out on it.

The movie isn't great, but it is entertaining. 

At school, Saihara has begun to avoid him. It's irritating, because he hadn't seen it coming, but he probably should have. He had thought Saihara a little better than that, but he can't say he's surprised either. Kokichi feels a little bad for him, anyway.

He catches Saihara at lunch, as per usual. They always eat together now, though it's always Kokichi seeking him out rather than the other way around. Saihara would probably eat alone every day if he could, but that's just how he is. He wishes Saihara wasn't so predictable, but maybe he'll surprise him. He's got potential; it's always the quiet ones, right? Anyway, that's what games are for. Nobody would play if they already knew what was going to happen because that wouldn't be any fun.

“Yo, Saihara-chan!” he lilts his name as he takes his seat next to him. Today is a different table; sometimes Saihara will inexplicably break routine like that. Maybe his usual spot is taken, or maybe...

“Are you avoiding me?”

“No,” he says, not even tripping over the word. “I'm sorry, our spot was taken.”

Kokichi's so caught off-guard by his reference to it being “our spot” that he almost misses how off he sounds. He can't quite tell why, but it just sounds like a lie. Usually, Saihara doesn't even try to make eye contact with him. But now he's (sort of) looking Kokichi in the eyes, and its weird. Like his eyes, which are a weird color. Saihara looks like he's expecting to be called out on it.

“Oh, that makes sense!” he decides to lie a little, and smiles a big fake smile at him. If he pretends to believe him, then he'll know for sure, because Saihara is only a so-so liar. 

Kokichi doesn't fail to pick up on the way Saihara relaxes, just a little bit.

“Just FYI, I'm a hide-and-seek master. Plus, I always find Waldo. Got it, Saihara-chan?”

Saihara gives him a weird, nervous look like he's been caught. “Uh, got it. Sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You just said our spot was taken, right?” Nudge, nudge.

He just nods, “Right.”

Kokichi has to laugh at that. He would eat now, if he had brought a lunch. He watches Saihara eat, which earns him a curious glance in Kokichi's direction.

“Uh,” his voice cracks a little, and he clears his throat, “um, where's your lunch?”

“Somebody stole it.”

“Really?” Saihara asks skeptically.

“Really! You know Momota-chan? He stole it. Said he needs to eat twice as much, since he got accepted into an astronaut-training program.”

Saihara thinks, then grins at him playfully. “That doesn't sound like Momota-kun. You're lying, right?”

“Wow, you got me! As if Momota-chan could ever be an astronaut, 'cuz he's so lazy. They have to work seriously hard, you know. I can run more laps than that guy, and that's seriously not a lie!”

“I meant about the lunch.” 

“Oh, yeah that was a lie, too. I forgot it at home,” he lies, again. 

Saihara sighs, and his face falls. “I figured as much,” he admits, and they trail off into silence. Suddenly, Saihara opens and shuts his mouth a few times, like he wants to say something. Kokichi patiently pretends not to notice, but he's desperate to know what he's trying to say with each passing second now. Did he figure something out? Saihara is dense, but pretty smart, too. Finally, he opens his mouth again, and words actually come out.

“You can share mine, if you want. You're probably hungry, right?” he trails off with a mumble.

Kokichi is kind of surprised, and is tempted to say no, except... he's starving, actually. Hasn't eaten all day, and even though he's bothering him all the time... Saihara is way too nice. It should be fine.

They split Saihara's lunch, but Kokichi avoids eating too much of it 'cuz he isn't an animal.

Sometimes, Kokichi forgets his lunch. Often enough that he's sure Saihara is going to get suspicious, if he isn't already. Fortunately, Saihara is too socially inept to call him out on anything. He graciously shares with him whenever he enters the cafeteria broke and empty-handed, only saying, “Again, huh?” and giving him a worried smile that makes Kokichi's heart skip. He must think he's seriously scatterbrained if he actually believes him.

Kokichi realizes he's catching on one day after school. They're walking home from school, about to go their separate ways. Kokichi steers in his own direction, when Saihara calls to him at the last minute.

“Wait, Ouma-kun!”

Kokichi turns around to see his face is red, but he's looking him in the eyes, with as much confidence he can muster, being how he is. It's an expression he hasn't seen on Saihara before; he can see determination in his eyes. Kokichi doesn't know how to react, so he just stares at him.

“Um, why... why don't you come over?”

“What? Why?” he asks. He's never been invited anywhere before, not really.

“Well,” he tugs at his cap, “uh, to study.”

Very suspicious, he decides. He's definitely going to go, then, he decides right away. 

“No way! Is Saihara-chan some kind of pervert?” he exclaims, pretending to be shocked by this invented revelation. “Hee hee, just kidding. But really, what are you thinking, Saihara-chan~?” 

Saihara's face continues to burn red. “S-Stop messing around, Ouma-kun! Nothing like that! I really mean studying, you know!”

“I know!” he grins at him. “Well, let's get going, then. I'm definitely gonna study hard with Saihara-chan's help.” 

Saihara looks bewildered, probably because he's afraid somebody heard all that. Also, he's really easy to embarrass. Still, he relaxes and sighs. 

“Good grief, Ouma-kun.”

Kokichi rejoins Saihara's side, and they walk to his place. Sometimes they walk too close and their sleeves brush, causing Saihara to practically jump before apologizing. Kokichi wants to roll his eyes.

Once inside, Saihara goes straight to the kitchen. “Coffee?”

“I hate coffee.”

“I know, I was just joking,” he says with a shy grin. “I'll make us something to eat, if t-that's alright?”

For the second time that day, Saihara makes him stop. He knows? He's joking? He's cooking for him? Still, he can hear him start up the coffee pot first. Does he seriously drink this stuff in the middle of the day?

Kokichi tosses his bag onto the floor by the sofa. “Aww, man. You figured it out, huh? Booor-iiing.”

“Well, you hardly drank any of it last time. Sorry,” he hears Saihara say from the kitchen. “Is there anything you do like to drink?”

“Panta,” he answers honestly. 

“Oh. Soda, right? I don't really drink it, so I don't have any. B-but I'll buy some, next time,” he rambles, then catches himself. “I mean, if you want. I didn't mean to, uh.”

Next time? He's going to buy shitty soda, just for him? He flops down on the sofa, and allows himself to get comfortable.

“Good. I want grape.”

“Oh, okay,” Saihara says, and Kokichi can hear the relief in his voice that he didn't call him out on the assumption there's going to even be a next time. It's not like we're really that close, after all, Kokichi reminds himself.

Kokichi lays there for a while, listening to Saihara in the kitchen. It's not long before he comes back out with two trays of food. It's nothing fancy, but Kokichi's stomach aches at the sight. Two microwaved dinners.

Saihara sets the food down in front of Kokichi, and slides him a glass of water. Saihara is looking at him expectantly. Kokichi stares back, then to the food, and he thinks he's starting to put it together.

“Thanks for the food~! Okay, let's eat.”

They end up not studying at all (as is becoming the norm) and Saihara puts on a comedy movie (not anime.) To his credit, Saihara did try to get Kokichi to study at least a little bit, or do homework, or something. Eventually, he gave in, because he's Saihara-chan and he's too nice, even though a good friend would probably try harder. This works better for Kokichi, though, and he doesn't feel guilty about distracting Saihara from getting any work done because he's too serious anyway. He could probably use a break; he's always got this worn-down look to him, like he doesn't sleep enough.

When Saihara excuses himself to go to the bathroom, Kokichi does some overdue snooping (because sometimes he takes way too long in there.) He discovers a bunch of case files. Who in their right mind would give these to Saihara? Maybe they're not his. Definitely weird. 

The only other thing of interest he finds is a bunch of board games stored away inside the coffee table, most notably chess. He's not nearly satisfied yet, but he resumes his place on the sofa when he hears Saihara turn off the bathroom sink.

Saihara sits down and plays the movie, apparently unaware Kokichi has just gone through his things like a middle school girl with a bad crush.

Kokichi likes comedies. They allow him to just turn off his mind and not think, without getting too bored at the same time. Something is always happening, even in bad comedies, people are being loud and crass and stupid and mindless. 

Saihara has a nice laugh. It's kind of restrained, and Kokichi wonders vaguely what sound Saihara would make if he were caught off guard. Like, when something that shouldn't be that funny, for some reason, just is that funny. Kokichi can't remember the last time he laughed like that, himself, but he feels relieved that Saihara can still do that, for some reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey its been a while and i still havent updated those other chapters (minor changes, not important just picky) but i wanted to post something. my writing is very disorganized, so let me know if something doesnt line up or make sense. only i read these chapters before they get posted, and my mind wanders easily. let me know what u think. i hope its good enough 8P


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